WEEKLY WISDOM
“Growth is growth, no matter how small.”
Parallel Universes: Those who are vaccinated are living in what seems like a totally different world than those who are not.
MARKETS
The UK’s economic recovery could be held back by the delta variant as renewed shopper caution threatens to dampen the ‘Freedom Day’ boost.
The US economic outlook shows a vast divide between consumer sentiment indicators and banks’ forecasts. The underlying concerns: these good times might not last forever. When might the party be over? What will that look like?
Bullish Outlook
- JP Morgan’s CEO Jamie Dimon said the US consumer is ‘raring to go’.
- “Consumers are flush with cash and their credit card utilization rates and debt burdens have dropped,” according to Moody’s Analytics.
Fear of a Slowdown
- The University of Michigan’s index of consumer sentiment fell to 80.8 in July from 85.5 in June, the lowest level since February.
- Inflation continues to accelerate, worrying a growing number of consumers.
- Retail sales increased in June but sentiment has taken a hit from soaring prices.
RETAIL
Burberry (UK) reported a rebound in retail sales to pre-pandemic levels during its first quarter.
- Comparable sales were 1% ahead of the same period in 2019 and 90% ahead of last year, at £479 million.
- Sales of leather goods and outerwear more than doubled year-on-year and while sales of shoes more than tripled.
- Burberry reduced its number of stores and stopped price cutting.
American Eagle Outfitters (USA) will make its debut in Ireland with its first store opening in August.
Nextflix (USA) will open its first store in Japan in 2022. It will sell T-shirts and miscellaneous goods.
PODCAST
What Amazon Does Differently, How They Do It and Why It Works
As a former senior exec at Amazon John Rossman understands the mindset and strategies that took the company from fledgling e-commerce market and turned it into a force to be reckoned with. In this podcast he shares his insider’s view of what Amazon does differently – and why this drives success.
ECOMMERCE
India and China have the same size populations, yet India is far behind in e-commerce market share. That’s about to change.
- India’s ecommerce is soaring. eMarketer expects digital sales in India to leap 27.0% this year, as more retailers launch or expand their online stores.
- Both domestic and foreign marketplaces are amping up investment in India’s ecommerce market.
- 86% of Indians started to use online shopping during the pandemic.
US back-to-school ecommerce sales will grow another 13.3% this year to $41.26 billion, according to eMarketer’s estimates.
Udaan (India), an ecommerce start up, is looking to tap into the nation’s fast growing small town market, said to be worth around $ 1 trillion dollars.
- Udaan has created a platform that helps retailers in tier 2 and tier 3 cities join the digital economy.
- 90-95% of the nation relies on small local retailers, according to Udaan.
- The company was founded by ex-Flipkart execs.
Asos (UK) announced a partnership with Nordstrom (US) while Boohoo (UK) has teamed up with Alshaya in the Middle East to sell their labels in physical stores.
INSIGHT: The shift to e-commerce means retail returns are exploding, with $500 billion worth of goods expected to be returned in the US alone this year.
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